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CBI investigates cold-case death of Grand Junction woman

Associated Press

Posted:
08/16/2013 11:49:36 PM MDT

Updated:
08/16/2013 11:50:28 PM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION -- The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's cold-case team will investigate the death of a Grand Junction woman who led a double life as a devoted mom and an escort for hire before she disappeared in 2007.

Thirty-four-year-old Paige Birgfeld's remains were found in 2012 in a dry creek bed in western Colorado. DNA tests confirmed the remains were hers.

Authorities have said her death was a homicide, but they haven't been able to determine how she died.

Birgfeld was twice divorced and lived with her three children. Friends knew her as a devoted mother who sold kitchen products and did other jobs.

Investigators learned about Birgfeld's business, called Models Inc., in the course of interviewing acquaintances after she disappeared.

Authorities say they have a suspect who was a client of Birgfeld's escort service. He hasn't been arrested.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Friday (http://tinyurl.com/pzbydlf) Pete Hautzinger, district attorney for Mesa County, which includes Grand Junction, declined to say whether prosecutors were any closer to filing charges.

"There's no answer to that question, and even if there was one I couldn't give it to you ethically," he said.

Prosecutors and investigators will present the case to the CBI team in Denver on Sept. 12.

The team includes approximately 30 investigators, including CBI and FBI agents, prosecutors and forensic pathologists.

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Hautzinger said consulting with CBI doesn't mean the investigation is stalled.

"I want to make sure we've done everything possible to make a prosecutable case, and part of that is consulting the best and brightest minds in the state to see if they have any ideas we haven't thought of," Hautzinger said.

Birgfeld was last heard from on June 28, 2007, when she driving to Grand Junction from Eagle. Her car was found burning the night of July 1, 2007.

Extensive searches in 2007 turned up several items of Birgfeld's, including papers.

Two hikers found Birgfeld's remains in Delta County, adjacent to Mesa County, in March 2012. Authorities speculated the buried remains were exposed by erosion.

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